NFL ’12: Lacks Tablet Support and Generally an Uninspiring App

We are well into the NFL 2012 season with week 2 just about wrapped up. I’m sure everyone is carefully following their teams and checking those fantasy points. I won my fantasy league last year and looking for a repeat which is pretty hard to do. One thing you need to keep up with all that’s happening is a good app for your phone and tablet. So I headed to the Google Play Store and went looking for the official NFL app. I found the app easy enough but that’s probably the best thing I can say about it since it was all down hill from there.

First, right there on the second line is a disclaimer that to quote “**Tablet users: we are working on an update that will make this app optimized for your devices”. Does this mean it won’t work on a tablet or that it’s just not optimized. Well, I downloaded the app on my Note 10.1 which worked until I attempted to open it. Immediately I got a message that it doesn’t work for tablets yet. Very annoying. I like having my tablet in front of me while watching the game on TV so I can follow all the scores and highlights for other games. Okay let’s get past this annoyance and look at the actual app.

Unfortunately the app doesn’t inspire much on the phone either. One of the most disappointing aspects is that there is literally no videos to watch. No game highlights, plays, or interviews. Oh wait, there is a single video on the Bears press conference. Let me repeat that, a single video. Come on NFL, are you serious. You also can’t watch game highlights on your tablet using the browser since their video player is not compatible. So I have to use a computer or laptop for any videos. There is also not much more to the app besides scores. Really disappointing experience overall.

I’m pretty sure the season didn’t sneak up on the NFL. Are you telling me that they couldn’t put together a good app with tablet support during the summer. We all love the NFL and their product but I think they should spend a fraction of those billions to make a decent app. I mean it’s the least they could do for us. I’ll keep checking and hoping for an update that will fix this mess but if you want to give the app a try yourself follow the download link.